Life-saving house-boat.



P. C. ROACH. LIFE SAVING HOUSE BOAT. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 22. Isla.

9|. 1r OIM now V an. MM m2 n QN T NNI Q m.\ .\/-N%\/ @M4N .Oh I IIIIIIIII IIL IIIIIIIII IIMI IIIM M N NQ hx .MW .....MN ...NL H mw :@Ii- ,II2@--- Wwl. I -MNIVIILIII uw m, awww@ w: Il I I mm. s I I H @JI @www wm un Inn @m wm mm ./I

THB CoLuMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0.. wAsmNnroN, D. c.

P. C. ROACH. LIFE SAVING HOUSE BOAT.

APPLICATION mso MN. 2.2. |916. 1,185,002.

Patented May 30, 1916.

V,Toi'aZZ whom if mcg/.concern .4

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

PATRICK C. ROACH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

LIFE-SAVING HOUSE-BOAT.

Speciicaton of Letters Patent.

' YApp'iieationinea,'ramiary22,191e. seriaiNo. 73,531.

Be .itfknown that I, PATRICK C. RoAoi-i, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident Y, of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Life-Saving House-Boats,

of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to life saving house boats, and its primary object is to provide a buoyant superstructure for vessels, ar-

ranged to be detachably secured to the decks, or to the roofs of the cabins of vessels, and having fastening means which may be readily disconnected from the vessel in case of emergency, whereby in case of the sinking ofk the vessel proper, the buoyant superstructure may remain aiioat.

Another object is to provide a buoyant superstructure capable of accommodating all or practically all of the persons allowed on board a vessel equipped with the structure.

Another .object is to provide means for positively securing `the superstructure to the cabin roof but arranged in such manner that the securing means may be quickly and readily disconnected so as to free the superstructure from the remainder of the vessel.

With the above mentioned objects and other objects in view this invention consists in a life saving house boat arranged to be detachably secured upon the deck or roof of the cabin of a vessel, and having means for accommodating all or practically all of the persons allowed on board the vessel.

This invention further consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and more definitely pointed out in the claims.

This invention is clearly illustrated in the drawings, accompanying this specification, in which:

Figure 1, is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a life saving house boat, embodying a simple form of the present invention; Fig.' 2, iS a plan thereof partly broken l out; Fig. 3, is a vertical cross section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, is a detail front view of one of the detachable connections between the life saving boat and` its support; Fig. 5, is a plan ofthe parts seen in Fig. 4, with certain lashing and a securing hook omitted; Fig. 6, is a perspective view of a fragment of a shoe for sup- I portingy the life saving house boat upon the cabin; and Fig. 7, is a perspective view of a fragment of one of the beams or girders Vupon which the shoe, seen in Fig. 6, is slidablv mounted. i

Referring to said drawings, A, designates the deck, or the roof of the cabin lof a vessel, and B, designates the life saving house boat supported thereon. Upon the roof A, are secured a number of transversely extending beams or girders 10, and longitudinally extending beams or grders 11, which are preferably in the form of I beams, and said beams are permanently fastened to the ro-of as for instance by rods, which pass therethrough and through the next deck below and are secured in some substantial portion of the framework thereof. Slidably mounted upon said beams are shoes 12, which extend lengthwise and crosswise of the vessel aiid comprise angle iron bars 13, 14, arranged in the form of a rectangle and lying underneath the lower edge portions ofthe hull 15, of the life saving house boat B. The inner sides of the vertical flanges of the angle iron bars 13, 14, incline downwardly and inwardly so as to form sloping sides, and the lower edge portions of the hull are also tapered downwardly to fit the sloping sides of the angle iron bars in order that the life saving boat may become readily separated from' the shoe, should occasion arise for such separation. Below the angle iron bars are blocks 16, (see Fig. 6) which are notched out at their upper inner corners for the reception of the angle iron beams, and below said beams, the blocks 16, are formed with T-shaped slots 17, for the reception of the upper flanges and vertical webs of the I beams 10, 11. In securing the life saving house boat in place upon the shoes it is placed upon the horizontal flanges of the angle iron bars 13, 14, the blocks 16, forced along the I beams 10, 11, until the angle iron bars are forced tightly against4 the sides of the boat B, after which wedge shaped keys 18, are driven through slots 19, in the I beams 10, 11, immediately in front of the blocks, to prevent backward movement of the blocks. Wedge shaped cross keys 20, are driven Adown through slots in the narrow end portions of the keys 18,

21, which are run through holes in cleats 22, secured to the side of the hull and through holes in the outerv ends of the I beams l0, ll, said outer ends having their upper horizontal flanges cut away as clearly indicated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. Besides the lashings, bolts o-r hooks 23, may

L be fastened to the outer ends of the I beams,

and hooked into holesin the lower ends of the cleats 22. Each lashing is given one or more turns around the adjacent hook or bolt 23, to securely fasten it in place. There should be as many lashings and hooks as are necessary to securely fasten the superstructure to the main portion of the vessel, and to guard against accidental displacement of the same.

The hull of the life saving house boat is preferably rectangular in form, having vertical sides and ends, and a flat bottom. Above the hull is a cabin-like structure, 35, and to accommodate a large number of people, I have provided two rows of seats 24, in the hull, which preferably run crosswse thereof, leaving a passage way or aisle down the center of the boat. Above the seats are wing decks 25, running from end to end of the boat, and supported by the outer walls of the boat, and also by upright supports 26, which form uprights for ladders 27, that extend from the bottom of the boat to the upper deck 28, thereof, and form the center supports for said deck. Said ladders furnish means for access to the wing decks, and form supports for the upper deck; they also hold down the bottom, thus simplifying the construction, whereby lighter material may be used in the construction of the boat.

Secured to the outer side walls of the life saving house boat are ladders 29, two at each end, which extend up from the bottom of the boat to its top, and then down into the bottom of the interior thereof as seen at 30, whereby access may be had from the exterior of the boat to the bottom of the interior thereof. Entrance to the boat is had through hatch-ways in the upper deck thereof, which are covered by hatches 31. Hand railings 32, extend around the upper deck, and if desired masts or posts 33, may be secured to the ends of the boat between which may be stretched a life line, rope or cable, which may -be used for supporting a canvas covering or awning above the upper deck. The boat is provided with port holes above and below the wing deck, and is provided with ventilators 34, in the upper deck thus insuring perfect ventilation of the boat.

In case the vessel is wrecked, the passengers and crew may enter the life saving house boat by way of the ladders 29, part of the people finding accommodations in the seats of the lower deck, others finding room upon the wing decks and still others upon the top deck. Before the vessel becomes submerged the sailors chop away the lashings and knock out the bolts or hooks 23,

thus leaving the life saving house boat free to be detached from the main vessel. As the latter sinks, the hull of the life saving house boat reaches the water and breaks away from the supporting shoes, thus remaining afloat after the vessel has gone down. The boat may obviously be equipped with a wireless telegraph, anchor, food, water, heating apparatus, etc. In case it is not possible to detach the hooks or sever the lashings before the vessel sinks, the life saving house boat will, nevertheless, tear away from the main vessel as soon as the latter becomes submerged, because of the great buoyancy of the life saving boat, and thus it will remain afloat. In case of uncontrollable fire in the vessel, proper, the lashings may be cut, hooks 23, knocked loose, and seacocks of the vessel opened to sink it, and with the use of a sprinkler system the life saving house boat with its load, may be saved.

I have calculated that with a life saving house boat of the kind described, 100 feet in length, 25 feet wide and 7 feet high, approximately 2,300 persons may be comfortably accommodated therein. In a boat of that length 82 seats may be placed on the floor, 4l on each side, each seat accommodating 9 persons, thus making room for 7 38 persons. The aisles will accommodate 150 persons;the wing decks 600 persons and the roof or upper deck 900. Smaller boats will accommodate a proportionate number of persons.

Because of the location of the life saving house boat, it is proof against attacks by torpedoes, While carried by the vessel, and in case the vessel is sunk, the life saving ,house boat may still be used for saving the lives of the passengers and crew.

More or less variation of the exact detail of construction is possible without departing from the spirit of this invention, and I desire, therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form shown and described, but intend in the following claims to point ou-t all of the invention as disclosed herein.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

l. A life saving house boat, comprising in combination with a plurality of beams adapted to be secured to the cabin of a vessel, a plurality of lengthwise and transversely extending shoes, slidably mounted on said beams, and means for holding said shoes in place thereon, of a buoyant hull, clamped between said shoes, and lashings detachably connecting said hull with said beams.

2. A life saving house boat, comprising in combination with supporting beams adapted to be permanently secured to the cabin of a vessel, of a buoyant hull above said beams, shoes slidably mounted on said beams and arranged to be clamped in place, and detachable connections between the hull and beams.

3. A life saving house boat, comprising in combination with a plurality of lengthwise and crosswise extending I beams, adapted to be permanently secured to the cabin of a vessel, oppositely arranged, clamping shoes slidably mounted on said I beams, and having angle shaped bars arranged to be clamped against the sides of a hull, and means for securing said shoes in place on the angle irons, of a hull clamped between said angle iron bars and having a cabin thereabove, and lashings for detachably securing said hull to the I beams.

4. A life saving house boat, comprising in combination with supporting beams permanently attached to the cabin of a vessel and a frame-like clamping mechanism slidably mounted on said supporting beams, of a buoyant superstructure removably secured in said frame-like mechanism and detachable fastenings between the superstructure and supporting beams.

5. A life saving house boat, comprising in combination with clamping shoes adapted to be secured upon the cabin of a vessel, of a detachable buoyant superstructure having a hull and cabin therein, wing decks in said cabin and ladders permanently attached to said superstructure and extending down from the roof of the cabin of the superstructure to the deck upon which the same is se` cured and also down into said hull, said superstructure being detachably secured to said shoes and additional detachable securing means extending between the superstructure and cabin of the vessel.

PATRICK C. ROACH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

